


what a heavenly way to die

by grchampcwell



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Depression, Established Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Post-Finale, Someone Help Will Graham, Suicidal Thoughts, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham is a Mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:48:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29493825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grchampcwell/pseuds/grchampcwell
Summary: what happens if only one of them survived the fall??tw // suicidal thoughts and implied suicide and depression mentionsi promise it does have a happy ending
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Kudos: 44





	what a heavenly way to die

**Author's Note:**

> i should not be allowed to write when im sad cause this is what came out of it then i wrote happy ending cause i felt better

_ Red, all he saw was red. There was blood everywhere. They were covered in blood, their own and Dolarhyde’s. He could taste the coppery metallic taste on his tongue, from the wound on his face and the blood running past his lips. He could see Dolarhyde’s corpse lying to their right, blood surrounding his body like wings. It was beautiful.  _

_ Working with Hannibal to kill Dolarhyde. The moment their eyes met and they knew exactly what to do next. They were working as one. And it was beautiful. Watching the blood spray as Hannibal tore his throat away. Watching the blood run over his hand as he cut Dolarhyde open. This was his becoming and it was beautiful.  _

_ That’s what scared Will, he could never come back from this. He could never go back to his life with Molly. He thought all this bloodshed was beautiful and thrilling and he wanted more of it. He thought about what Bedelia had said.  _

_ “Can’t live with him, Can’t live without him,’  _

_ Sure he didn't truly trust her judgement. Oftentimes they seemed to only say things to see who could annoy the other the most. But she was right. At least Will believed she was when he made the plans for his next steps.  _

_ They stood embracing each other on that cliff. Then they were falling. Will knew he had been the one to initiate it but he didn’t remember making the move, he just knew he was. This had been his plan. That's the last thing he remembered was falling.  _

_. _

Will jolted awake and nurses immediately rushed into the room. Why was he in the hospital? Where was Hannibal? Did he dream the whole thing? No… no it had been so real, it couldn’t have been a dream. His cheek and shoulder were aching from being stabbed. But, if he was in the hospital that meant Hannibal was too. Shit. Unless.. No he couldn’t think of that. He was not even going to consider that an option. 

__

Nurses were checking his vitals and talking to each other, but all Will could hear was the steady beep of the heart monitor. He needed to find out where Hannibal was. Needed to find a way to get them out of here. The FBI would immediately throw Hannibal back in prison once his wounds healed. Will couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t lose Hannibal, not again. 

__

He just wanted to get out of here but he could feel that his body was too weak to even get out of bed. He tried to ask the nurses about Hannibal but they were all rushing around the room and not listening to him. 

__

How long had he even been out? Is it possible that he was out of it long enough that Hannibal was already in custody? He hoped not, he couldn't convince Jack to fake break Hannibal out of prison again. 

__

Once the nurses were done with Will, they let Jack Crawford into the room. Will sighed, the FBI had found them then. 

__

“How are you doing Will?” Jack asked as he took a seat in the chair next to Will’s hospital bed. 

__

“Where’s Hannibal?” Will asked. He knew Jack wouldn’t be happy that that was Will’s first question but he had to ask. 

__

“We found you both at the bottom of the cliff,” Jack said, letting out a quiet sigh. 

__

“That doesn’t answer my question, Where’s Hannibal?” Will asked again. 

__

“You just woke up from some traumatic events, a conversation about Hannibal can wait,” Jack replied. 

__

Why was he avoiding the question? He just wanted to know if Hannibal was okay, he couldn’t remember anything besides falling. What happened after they hit the water? Did they both make it out alive? They had to.. Will didn’t know what would happen if Hannibal didn’t survive as well. 

__

Jack sighed before standing. He had been trying to talk to Will but could tell he was distracted. 

__

“I’ll let you adjust to being awake before I question you on what happened that night,” Jack said before leaving the room. Now, Will was alone. He couldn’t stop thinking about if Hannibal had not survived. 

__

.

__

After a few hours of being poked at by nurses, Will was ready to fall asleep again. He was exhausted and being poked at all day wasn’t helping at all. He was still extremely weak and any movement was tiring.

.

_ Falling… it felt like an eternity. His grip on Hannibal tightened, he didn’t want to lose hold of him. At least if they died, they would die together. And if by a miracle they survived, they could run away together, live out their lives together. Will was willing to finally let go and let himself love Hannibal.  _

_ That was the other thing Will had realized as they killed Dolarhyde, as they embraced. He loved Hannibal, he always had loved Hannibal. Why else did he keep coming back? Even after freeing himself from Hannibal, he missed him daily. He didn’t go a single day where he didn’t think of Hannibal. Where he didn’t smile fondly at the thought of him.  _

_ He knew Hannibal was a killer and a monster and yet he loved him, wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, to die with him… that was his plan when he took them over the cliff, to die together.  _

_ When they hit the water, Hannibal took most of the impact. The blood that had made their embrace slippery, made it harder to keep hold of each other while in the water and Hannibal was torn from Will’s grip by a wave.  _

_ Will screamed for Hannibal, salt water burning his throat as he tried not to drown. His shoulder and face wound burned and he could feel blood pouring from his shoulder again. His nose and eyes burned as he was pulled under by a wave, struggling against it to break to the surface again. He needed to find Hannibal.  _

_ He screamed for Hannibal as he struggled to swim for the beach. He heard his name being called and swam in that direction. Hopefully, Hannibal had made it to the beach already. _

_. _

Will woke again, but this time to nurses already surrounding him. Once again he could barely understand what was going on. Will tried to sit up, he needed to go look for Hannibal, but a nurse pushed him down. Will tried again only for another nurse to push him back so he was laying down. Will then tried to pull out his IV, which only got another nurse stopping him and more nurses flooding into his room. 

__

He tried to fight against the nurses, just wanting to go find Hannibal but they kept pushing him back. Eventually, he felt a stab in his arm and suddenly the hospital room was fading and he was back in the water. 

.

_ Will found his way onto the beach, to find Hannibal laying on his stomach in the sand. The sweater he had been wearing, torn up due to rocks. There were scratches all over him from what Will could see and the entrance wound from the bullet was bright red and looked swollen.  _

_ That was not good. He would need medical help as soon as possible. Will looked around, hoping Hannibal had thought ahead and called Chiyoh for help, just in case. But all he could see was the ocean and an empty beach. Shit. He didn’t think he could make it back to the house and find a first aid kit without passing out from blood loss himself. He needed to improvise until he and Hannibal could make it to the house.  _

_ He turned Hannibal over as gently as he could, knowing he was likely in excruciating pain if his gunshot wound was already that bad. Hannibal’s eyes opened but he looked exhausted and like he was ready to pass out.  _

_ “Will,” He managed to speak and Will gently grabbed his hand.  _

_ “I’m right here Hannibal,” He said and moved closer to Hannibal.  _

_ “Go back to the house, tend to your wounds darling, leave me here… I won’t be able to make it, I’ve lost too much blood,” He mumbled out, though it took him fairly long to get it all out.  _

_ “No no, don’t you dare say that, I can’t lose you, not after I just got you back” Will said.  _

_ “Will please, I’m not going to make it,” Hannibal said and when Will looked towards the sand, he realized how much blood was actually leaving Hannibal’s body… he wouldn’t make it unless he got medical help right away. Something Will couldn’t offer.  _

_ He didn’t want to leave Hannibal alone. He couldn’t let him die alone, he had to stay by his side. He knew Hannibal wouldn't leave him if their roles were reversed.  _

_ He regretted pulling them over the cliff, because if he had just admitted his feelings they could've been running away together. But because he couldn't get out of his head, he was sitting next to Hannibal, watching as he slowly bleed out. He wished he could go back in time to change his choices. At least if they had stayed at the house, they could have tended to their wounds.  _

_ He had to tell Hannibal how he felt before he died. He couldn't sit there and say nothing, do nothing. Will leaned down and pressed a timid kiss to Hannibal's lips. Hannibal could barely respond because he was growing weaker and weaker each second.  _

_ "I'm sorry, I should've just told you I loved you instead," Will whispered and put his head against Hannibal's chest as he laid in the sand next to him.  _

_ "I love you too," Hannibal whispered. Will could tell he was in pain as he spoke. He buried his face in Hannibal's chest. Listening to his fading heartbeat. Tears beginning to slip past his eyes. This was exactly what his worst nightmare was. Losing Hannibal.  _

_ He cried against Hannibal's chest, hearing him take his last breath and his heart stop beating. Please be a nightmare. Will kept thinking as he laid there. _

_ Eventually, he realized it was real and that he needed to get up. Though in that moment all he wanted to do was lay there with Hannibal until he died. But he knew Hannibal would rather him try to live at least try to.  _

_ So, Will stood up and slowly began to limp his way back towards the house. Though he didn't get very far before his vision was blurring and going black around the edges. He was going to faint from the blood loss soon. _

_ Then he was falling…  _

_. _

Will sat straight up as he awoke. Immediately feeling sick to his stomach. No no this had to be some sick nightmare. Hannibal couldn't be dead. He couldn't be. 

__

Will pulled the IV out of his arm and tried to pull himself out of bed. He set off the alarm that told the nurses he was getting out of his bed. He was able to stand but it felt like his legs were jelly. 

__

When he tried to take a step forward, He began to fall but caught himself on the bed. Just then a nurse came into the room and tried to get him back into bed. Another nurse came in and Will could hear them talking about having to restrain him. 

__

Will fought against the nurses as they got him back into bed but another nurse brought in bed restraints. Soon Will was restrained to his bed and struggling against those. He could hear that his heart beat was speeding up as he stressed himself out by fighting the restraints. 

__

A nurse brought in a sedative since Will was being extremely uncooperative and soon he was asleep again.

__

.

__

A few days later, Will had calmed down enough for him to have visitors so Jack returned to question him. Will didn't acknowledge his presence until he was sat in the chair. 

__

"He's dead… isn't he?" Will asked. He knew Jack would know he was referring to Hannibal. 

__

"We found his body a few feet away from you… He was dead when we arrived," Jack replied and Will couldn't help but let out a sob. 

__

"It's my fault." Will mumbled through his sobs. Jack sighed. Hannibal had once been his friend as well. It was a relief for the Chesapeake Ripper to no longer be a threat but he had once been Jack's friend and Jack had cared for him. He knew Will had a strange relationship with Hannibal. Especially since Will had admitted to almost throwing away everything to run away with Hannibal the night Abigail died. 

__

"He bleed out due to multiple wounds. Will, that's not on you," Jack said. 

__

"I pulled us over that cliff, away from a place he could tend to his wounds. I watched as he died and as a part of me died with him," Will said quietly before turning away from Jack. He didn't want to talk about that night, he just wanted to see Hannibal again. 

__

"Molly wants to see you, Her and Walter," Jack said after a few minutes of silence and Will sighed. 

__

"Tell her I won't be the same man who she married," Will said quietly. He wasn't. He never would be. A part of him had died with Hannibal. 

__

Will remembers telling Hannibal that he was curious if they could survive separation. Wil had gotten his answer while Hannibal was in Baltimore State. The answer was yes but it was extremely hard as he couldn't help but think of Hannibal for most of their days apart… and knowing Hannibal was alive and he could visit him if he ever needed to helped. But now, Hannibal was gone and Will wasn't sure if he would be able to survive much longer without him. 

__

Molly and Walter came into the room a while later, though Will was lost in his thoughts for most of their visit. His head wasn't in a good place. He had just confirmed that the nightmare that had been haunting him the last few nights was all just his memory and that he had lost the man he loved and a part of himself because of a stupid choice he made. 

__

.

__

A few more days went by and finally Will was able to go home. He wasn't sure what would happen since Molly had not come to see him since that first time and he hasn't tried to contact her. Jack came to talk to him a few more times. Eventually getting Will's story about what had occured. 

__

Molly came and picked him up from the hospital and drove them home. She didn't ask about his new scars or what happened that night. Which Will was thankful for but he was sure Jack had probably told her. The FBI decided to let Will off the hook for the murder of Dolarhyde since he killed a killer and technically it had been the plan. 

__

Will spent most of his days, completely unaware of what was happening around him. He never was fully present. Molly suggested multiple times for him to try and get help but Will would always refuse. He knew all the tricks they would use. Plus he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to talk about why losing Hannibal was so hard for him. 

__

They set up a small funeral for Hannibal. Will didn't attend. He didn't even want to get out of bed that day. Though he didn't want to get out of bed most days at this point. His mental health just seemed to be getting worse and worse and he was refusing any help. 

__

.

__

One night, Will snuck out and drove to the cliff house. He didn't know what he would do but he had to go to the house. He snuck past the police tape and walked towards the cliff. This was the place where he made the worst choice… 

__

He could still see the blood stains in the concrete from where the whole fight had occurred. It was a memory Will wished he could relive. He wanted to be with Hannibal again, working as a team. To feel as one with Hannibal. Not to feel like he's missing a piece of him as he stands on the edge of the cliff alone, missing the warmth of Hannibal's arms around him. 

__

He looked over the cliff and sighed. Standing alone isn't how he ever imagined coming back to this place. Hannibal was always at his side. 

__

He wanted everything to be okay again. He wanted Hannibal back. He wanted to run away with Hannibal. He wanted to adopt dogs with Hannibal. To spend his nights in Hannibal's arms. To fall in love with him more and more everyday. 

__

Will sighed and the next thing he knew was that he was falling.

.

_ He was falling. He didn't remember taking a step or even leaning over the cliff far enough for him to fall, but now he was falling.  _

_ Falling… it always seemed to feel like an eternity when only it was a few seconds.  _

. 

Will let out a sob as he woke up. Not again. But this time he wasn't in a hospital. He wasn't surrounded by nurses. Had it really just been a nightmare? 

"Will," Hannibal's voice said into the dark room. Will turned to where his voice was coming from. Reaching out for him. 

"You're alive," Will mumbled in relief as he wrapped his arms around Hannibal's shoulders. Hannibal wrapped his arms around his waist. 

"Of course I'm alive darling," Hannibal said kissing the top of Will's head.

"I thought you had died. I was so scared that I had lost you," Will mumbled into Hannibal's shoulder. 

"Nightmare?" Hannibal asked and Will nodded. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hannibal asked a few seconds later. 

"I dreamt that you died that night, after the fall. That you bleed out while I couldn't do anything to help you… then I dreamt I woke up in a hospital room alone and afraid," Will admitted, letting a few tears roll down his cheeks. Hannibal gently placed his hand under Will's chin and moved his face so he was looking at him. 

"I'm right here, my love. I'm alive, this isn't a dream," Hannibal said kissing his forehead then his nose. Will nodded and pulled Hannibal closer. 

"Please don't die on me anytime soon," Will whispered and Hannibal leaned in to kiss him. 

The kiss was full of love and Will pulled him closer and tightened his grip on Hannibal's shoulders. Hannibal gently cupped his cheek with his hand, twisting Will's curls in his fingers as they kissed. They kissed until they were out of breath.

Will pulled back to catch his breath and leaned his forehead against Hannibal's. They sat like that for a long time, enjoying being in each other's presence. 

He was thankful Hannibal was alive and in his arms. Thankful to be alive and be with Hannibal. This is all he wanted and needed.

He was glad he could grow old with Hannibal. Glad they could adopt some dogs and create their own little family. They could spend their days enjoying each other's company. Spending their days falling more and more in love. 


End file.
